If you didn't know that legendary tennis player and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams has an eye for interior design, take note. Twenty-two years after he founded his interior design company, V Starr Interiors, Williams is now entering the generative AI space with his new platform called Palazzo. This platform generates design ideas that inspire people who want to revitalize their spaces.
Palazzo was officially released today and is now available on the web. The company has plans to develop iOS and Android apps in the near future.
When users open the platform, they are asked to upload a photo of the room they want to design, and Vinci, an AI-powered assistant, generates an edited photo of the room. The AI analyzes your input, so if you request a mid-century modern look, Vinci will churn out renderings with furniture, decor, and color combinations that match that style. (Yes, this AI assistant is named after the famous Italian artist you have in mind.)
Users can also upload inspiration photos along with their own images, giving Vinci a better idea of what they want. You can enter multiple ideas and requests and ask the AI to remove the sofa from the design or change the wallpaper. As you continue working with Vinci, you'll learn your style and create renderings that better match your vision.
Image credits: palazzo
The number of free iterations a user can create is limited. The user has only about 10 opportunities to make adjustments at no additional cost. Palazzo sells four different bundles: 20 credits for $5, 100 credits for $20, 250 credits for $40, and 500 credits for $75. Additionally, the referral program rewards users with 5 tokens every time someone is referred to the platform and creates an account.
The company is still experimenting with the model, so this could change, co-founder Raffi Holzer told TechCrunch.
Holzer is the former CEO and founder of Avvir, a construction platform that was acquired by industrial technology company Hexagon in 2022. Palazzo's founding team also includes Goody founder and early angel investor Edward Rand, who has backed unicorn companies such as Lamp and Mercury. Current, Spendesk, Truebill, etc.
Another of Palazzo's services includes taking an “aesthetic DNA” test. The test asks users to choose from a variety of room designs, from ultra-colorful wallpaper and rugs with loud patterns to a calming atmosphere with neutral tones and minimalist artwork. The quiz results help the AI generate renderings designed to convey that aesthetic.
There's also an Explore Feed, which encourages users to join a community of creators where they can share their designs, collaborate, and view other user-generated content. And of course, Palazzo allows users to share their designs on social media platforms.
Williams has been promoting Palazzo on X (formerly Twitter) since December, sharing her work: This one:
Palazzo currently uses ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion, but the company plans to continue adding and revising AI over time.
“We have changed the brain of our AI many times and will continue to do so as new models come out,” Holzer explains. “We designed the system so that you can unplug a particular model and plug in a new one very seamlessly, so even if it's the most advanced, it still provides the same user experience.”
The training process included creating a dictionary of industry-related terms and teaching the AI about current furniture trends, the company said. Williams points to the cloud couch craze, a dreamy, plush, oversized white sofa that's trending on TikTok.
“When we first started, we had to teach the platform what to do. [cloud couch] meaning. They’re so popular right now,” Williams said during an interview. “So from an industry perspective, things like that are definitely important to really understand what people like and what trends are trending. Last year, there was a lot of buzz with the peach color trending. …So we're getting ahead of that trend and making sure that we're teaching our language models what that means.”
Palazzo launched its beta version in late December. Thousands of users have signed up and are active every month.
Image credits: palazzo
We've tested the beta version, and while it's not perfect, Palazzo is easy to use, accessible, and affordable, making it a useful inspirational tool for any consumer, regardless of their design skills. Masu.
“It's fun and intuitive to use because you feel like you're talking to a design assistant, but we also recognize that it has its limitations. It's not a replacement for human interaction,” Holzer says.
These types of platforms are not new. A number of retail giants are doubling down on the field of generative AI, including IKEA, which debuted his AI-powered home design assistant exclusively in its OpenAI GPT store earlier this month. In October 2023, Walmart announced that it is developing an interior design assistant that utilizes generative AI and AR technology. Last summer, Wayfair released his Decorify app.
While Palazzo doesn't have a big name brand to rely on for growth, the team does have a tennis icon with 20 years of interior design knowledge.
Image credits: palazzo
Palazzo has ambitious plans for the platform and wants to expand beyond AI-powered generation services. This includes shopping and checkout features and “empowers people to shop” [similar] Furniture and interior decoration were created based on the images they created for themselves,'' Holzer reveals. The company plans to have its retail partners incorporate their inventory into a platform that Vinci can offer to potential customers. This feature will be rolled out soon.
The company also wants to explore other services beyond the design stage, such as connecting consumers with home remodelers and other professionals.
“We're looking to expand into connecting people with home service providers who want to help realize the design visions they create. So whether it's finding a designer you can connect with or painting a room, Everything is on the table, even finding someone to do it,” he added.
Most notably, Palazzo welcomes well-known interior designers and companies (like V Starr) to contribute designs on the platform and get paid for their work.
“AI is known for plagiarizing creatives. If you're a creator and you put your IP out there to the world, its large language models can use it without your consent or even knowledge, and of course without compensation.” Scan what you have created without. The model we have created here is a concept of this design imprint. So if someone wants to make their room in V star style, our design engine will You can create that aesthetic within that person's space. But if any transactions occur on the platform, V Starr will be compensated,” Holzer said.
“We value humanity. To me, AI feels like a tool for efficiency and creativity, but it still requires human interaction. I think we can't forget that in life. I think so,” Williams said.